The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-03-03
TERRIFIED INDIANS.
The Ravcges Of the Cannibal Me-
phant Of Mundla.


plant Of Mundla
Host persons who have had occasion
70 visit the prettily wooded station of
Nagpur, the seat of the administration
of the Central Provinces Of India, and
who have been inside the little English
Museum there, must have observed q
trophy in the shape of the skull and
tusks Of an elephant occupying a prom
inent place among the other curiosities.
These. and the awful reputation for
blood-thirss;ness which he left behind
him, are all that remain to us of the
once notorious s'm~an-eating'' elephant
of Mundla. Hardly anybody who has
ever resided in India can have failed TO
hear Of the enormities committed by
this extraordinary animal, whose his
tory would read like a monstrous fable,
were Il not corroborated in every par
ficuIar BY the official records.
About the year 1851. when the estate
o. the NaNab of Ellichpur escheated
10 the Nizam's government, this ele-
phant escaped, and made its way into
the jun9les of Chindwara, in the Gen.
trsl Rr6yinces. The rajah of Nagpur
hearing Of 1t, offered a reward for its
capture. andsent out two detachments
sowars (troops) after it. Hunted
bout the Chindwara District, it de-
ended the CHATS and passing close to
yof Nagpur, turned northward,
H. KIN "A IL ---kl-R A.
krgannah of the Balaghat Dis
y several years it roamed the
Unansna Hills, and then went away
north of Bhimlat to the Chaisan CHAT
range, where it remained without doing
much damage to man or property until
the beginning of the year 1871, when
at signalized itself by killing, without
any sort of provocation, twenty-one
persons in the Mundla District, CATCH
ing them with its trunk and pounding
them to death. 1t then passed on once
more to the Balaghat District; and
the history Of its atrocities while
there. the measures taken for its de-
sfS Etion, and the result of those meas
uE6s, are detailed and perfectly clear.
he following account is extracted
from the official report, the substance
of which is here given, with only a few
omissions and some slight alteration, in
the language of the report.
On the evening of the 30th of Octo-
Der, 1871, a report reached the Deputy
Commissioner at his headquarters at
Balaghat that the elephant had killed
and partially deyoured a Gond (abori-
gine) near Behir, in the northeast cor
ner of the district. Owing to press of
work, the Deputy Commissioner was
unable to take any action until the LIST
of November, when he moved off
'by the most direct route towards Be-
hir, with the object of meeting there
with the district superintendent of po-
lice, with whom it had been previously
arranged to hunt the animal. On the
Sd of November he got to q place near
Behir, where he came across the super
intendent Of the Mundla District, who
had followed up the elephant. Here
they were informed that the creature
had been seen on the night of the 9th
of October by q Gond, who was watch
ing his fields with his father on a
machan, or rude wooden platform
erected for that purpose. The former
had jumped off the platform, and,
shouting to alarm his father, had bolted
to the nearest village for safety. The
latter, however, was not so fortunate,
and his body, smashed almost to pieces,
was discovered in a field on the follow
ing morning. Again, on the night Of
the 18th Of October, a Gond and his
wife were sleeping on a machan in 9
field to the north of the village of Jatta.
The woman was awakened by hearing
strange noises, and catching sight o.
the elephant, she reused her husband
and ran to, alarm her two children, who
were sleeping in a neighboring field
She then, with the children, ran off tt
the village. Her husband, who did no
at first believe her, took his time il
coming down, was caught by the ele
plant and killed. His body was fount
in a fearfully mangled condition. TIL,
elephant had then passed round t.
the south of the village, ant
had given chase to a decrepit old Conc
whom he spied among the grass. Ac
cording to the account given by the oil
man, the elephant came up with him
and planted his tusks in the ground OF
either side of his PROSTATE body
Thinking my last moment had come,
he said, II placed my hands on tn
elephants tusks and called on the go,
Ganesh to save me; and the elephan
Immediately turned round and wen
away!" The animal would then seer
to have passed southwards to Branderi
On the way, he destroyed several hut:
lifting the thatch and knocking dow
part of the gable ends, and feeling in
side with his trunk for the large graf
jars which he expected to find there
The inhabitants, it is needless to sa,
fed on his approach.
After listening to these several az
counts, the Deputy Commissioner an
the superintendent of police determil
cd to take action. The elephant ha
been last seer still going southwark
and might be lying ~conceaie
in the jungies hard by. No pRs
tive evidence of his whereaboutsce1t
however. be obtained. In this emefl
ENJOY, a party of Bygas, or wild hill
men, was despatched southwards [
take up the track; a party Of Gond
were sent eastwards to inquirsd h
had shown himself thereabouts;kcu
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